


Past Noon

by AinZaphir



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fist Fights, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 17:21:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21933340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AinZaphir/pseuds/AinZaphir
Summary: Sara and Reyes did not leave the cave on good terms. Reyes has come up with a plan to try and remedy that.
Relationships: Female Ryder | Sara/Reyes Vidal
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40
Collections: MEFFW Secret Santa Exchange 2019





	Past Noon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [letsbreereal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsbreereal/gifts).

“Sniper. His sights are set on Sloane.” 

She saw him smile once again as his face got into her view, still not taking his eyes off Sloane. Reyes and Sloane were walking around each other, circling each other like animals stalking their prey. Sara was thinking fast. Should she intervene? What would happen if she did? She didn’t want him to die, and get his head placed on a spike. SAM’s interference had given her a second to think. To react.

But before she could even decide what to do, the loud bang went off, and the circular dance that seemed to have lasted forever stopped. Sara closed her eyes. When she opened them again, both Sloane and Reyes were standing in front of her, staring at  _ her _ . No one had died. 

The shot had gone off, but Sloane was still alive. Looking down upon herself, she realised several things. For one, she wasn’t wearing her armour. The second thing she noticed was that she was bleeding.

Both Sloane and Reyes pointed to her with their fingers as she fell to her knees. But this wasn’t like back in the cave. The collective “bang” said Sara’s voice, by Sloane and Reyes. It was her fault. 

She awoke with a gasp to the sound of her alarm. Taking a second to look around, she hit her omni tool and promptly turned it off. 

“SAM? What’s the status?” 

“We will be arriving in Kadara Port in less than 2 hours, Pathfinder. Your presence has been requested on the bridge in an hour.”

“Okay, Okay. Thanks SAM. Tell Kallo I just need to take a shower and I’ll be right there.” 

“Pathfinder, I suggest you eat something.” How come SAM’s tone never changed? It both annoyed her and served as something concrete and secure at the same time. How he always had the same stable tone, leaving her a firm presence that never left her to talk to. Yet, at the same time, SAM was an emotionless machine. Placed in her head without her consent. 

“I’m not hungry,” Sara dismissed as she sat up and curled her arms around her knees. “Walk me through today’s agenda? Sort by the order in which you recommend me to complete them.”

“Your presence has been requested at the bridge. You have a briefing scheduled with your crew before docking. Keema Dohrgun wants to see you to give an update on the Roekaar situation, and Dr. T’Perro wishes for you to bring a formula to Dr. Nakamoto for testing in the outpost…” SAM remained silent for a second, as if hesitating, before continuing. Perhaps it was the AI’s way of delivering a sigh. “Dr. T’Perro also informs me breakfast will be served in 10 minutes in the galley, and reminds you that your daily intake should be-” 

Sara didn’t want to hear Lexi’s rant about food again, even if it was through SAM and interrupted:

“Tell her I’ll see her  _ after _ the briefing and that I’m not hungry. Any updates on Scott?” 

“None. I am monitoring the reports sent to me from the Hyperion. There has been no change, and he remains in a coma.” 

“Thanks, SAM.” Sara hadn’t expected there to be a change, not really. Just like she hadn’t been expecting there to be any changes the day before, just like there hadn’t been any change for the past few weeks. She barely stopped by the medical wing these days, not wanting Scott’s physician’s sorry eyes at her every time she took Scott’s hand, internally pleading for him to wake up. 

Her stomach turned as she thought of how it would feel to talk to him about everything, but couldn’t. How she had only made him short circuit or something when she had been able to talk to him through SAM. How she rarely needed anyone as much as she needed her brother as she did right at this moment. Feeling her tears pressing from behind her eyes, she took a deep breath and decided that if the waterworks was about to turn itself on again, she might as well let it in the shower. She threw off her covers and headed for the bathroom; today was not going to be a good day.

***

As it turned out, Keema did have information too important not to act on. She could have spared herself having Reyes in the room, all he did was stalk in the shadows anyway, except for informing that they had raided a base that had been abandoned by the Roekaar, and that they remained as elusive as always. These meetings were a significant bother, however. Nothing being said here could not be said in a message. The purpose of these meetings were not to brief her, they were a show. A show of diplomacy, to strengthen the illusion that the Collective and the initiative were cooperating, happily. 

Had Sara been in a slightly better mood, and had this been a private conversation between herself and the Charlatan, she might have sarcastically complimented him on using a lot more words than necessary to state that they didn’t have any leads. But those kinds of insults were reserved for the awfully few times the two had been alone since the cave, barring the few vid-calls he had made since the cave, to which she had only replied by hurling insults at him. The twenty or so messages he had sent her she had not even bothered to reply to. She would not dignify anything he had to say with an answer. 

Insulting him in front of Keema however, would not be a good show of diplomacy, which was why she suspected he had bothered to show up to this particular meeting. To force her into talking to him civilly.

_ Can’t he just take a hint? _

Sara grunted at him, barely acknowledging his presence. Hearing him speak was not something she had been looking forward to, ever since Keema sent her first communications that there were credible threats against the initiative outpost. 

Sensing another  _ helpful remark _ from Reyes on its way, a remark she suspected to be neither helpful nor informative, she decided to end the briefing short and get back onto her ship as soon as possible to plan out the mission for the following day. Kadara was hot, humid and still reeking of sulfur, despite the vault having been settled for months. 

It made Sara think of rotten eggs, just like the rotten egg she knew to be standing in the shadows behind her, always lurking, never accepting responsibility. Feeling him behind her, if even separated by several metres of space and a few armed Krogan guards unnerved her, and she didn’t come all this way just to have him mess with her head again. 

_ Never again. _ Sara thought to herself as the rotten egg in question made to deliver his newest comment. 

“Thank you for your time Keema. I will look into the situation as soon as possible, and I will head out tomorrow.” She said, distinctly  _ not _ looking at him as he once again entered her field of vision, emerging from the shadows. 

He didn’t deserve her time, her emotions, or her acknowledgement. He deserved nothing from her but pain like the pain he had caused her. He would get nothing more from her. She was finally done. Weeks of not sleeping, weeks of constant stomach aches as if someone had punctured her stomach instead of her heart, weeks of finding any sort of relief from the bottomless pit her emotions had seemed to become had finally paid off and she was done with him. Or, at least the conscious part of her mind was done with him.

“Pathfinder,” Keema nodded, and Sara regarded herself dismissed. She turned on her heel and walked firmly towards the exit, ignoring the footsteps coming after her. 

Why did he have to do this to her? Why couldn’t he just take the hint and leave her alone? She wanted to heal, not reopen the wound. She couldn’t stand being near him more than she needed to, not after weeks of sulking, putting herself back together, watching every single Angaran feel-good movie there was, crying in her quarters alone, crying on Jaal’s shoulder that one time without specifying why she was crying, not being hungry and constantly thinking about what happened. 

She was going to go home to her ship, lock herself in her cabin, drink whatever Vetra would get for her from the black markets and pass out, gaining the blessing of not having to think about anything in particular but the blissful darkness she craved. She was going to numb herself again, in the wonderful, forgiving bliss only certain types of liquor could do for her at the moment. She was not going to let him do this to her again. She was going to get back to her ship, have a large glass of whatever Vetra had gotten for her in this godforsaken port, have a long night’s sleep and get this visit to Kadara over with, and hopefully not having to return until she absolutely had to. 

His footsteps caught up with her as she pressed her omni tool to open the door leading towards the hallway, taking extra care not to look at the store room where she had once stolen 600 year old whiskey with him. She knew the sting her stomach made every time she even thought of the incident all too well.

“Can I talk to you?” She heard his hoarse voice say, so quiet no one but her and him could hear it. 

_ What, lie to me again, you mean?  _ Sara thought as she kept walking, only slightly slowing her pace to allow him to catch up with her.  _ He could have important intel that isn’t meant for everyone’s ears _ , her rational voice persuaded, although Sara doubted that very much, but wouldn’t forgive herself if she left any stone unturned. The Roekaar was a credible threat to be taken seriously, regardless of how much she detested the source of which the intel came from.

“You seem to be doing that now.” She said as icily as she could, trying not to let herself cry, scream and everything in between.

“Properly, I mean. Can you come and see me in the Tartarus? It is important.” 

Sara sighed. She really didn’t fancy being used as another piece in some elaborate scheme directed by the Charlatan. However, the need to talk in private seemed to only strengthen the notion that he might actually have valuable intel for her to take advantage of this time. On the other hand, this could all be a trap. His sense of urgency did suggest otherwise, but she could never be too sure.

“Is this related to the mission?” She asked, not actually looking at Reyes who was doing his best at making eye contact.  _ Stop it. _

“In a way, yes. Just come by. What’s the worst that could happen?”

_ A sniper shooting my ass down the minute I step inside? No, that’s not his game, Reyes likes to play with his food, I’ve seen that one too many times. _ Anger surged, but she decided to keep her cool. Her wall of indifference seemed to have worked in repealing his advances, at least it had made him get to the point faster than usual and hang up fast the last time he’d vid-called her under the guise of sharing intel, so perhaps this really was important. 

It could be that Keema had tasked him with this specifically. This could be one of these things where there were details to the mission she didn’t want discussed in front of fellow Angara.  _ Typical Kadara _ . She loved the planet for its beauty, and hated it for its inner toxicity, it’s rotten core that not even a vault could fix. It was infuriating to deal with on a regular basis. She sighed and made a mental note to inform her crew where she was going and how long she planned to be there before actually going. 

“Okay. When?”

***

Sara didn’t know why she went, other than that there could be intel. She could have scheduled a vid-call. Why she had decided to trust that this supposed intel might actually exist, when she wouldn’t even trust him with the well being of a potato, she didn’t know. 

Possibly because of his undertone. As her elevator approached the slums, Drack murmured something about checking out the black markets and running off, taking care to send a message to her omni-tool after they had gone their separate ways. His message was brief, stating that he would check in on her within an hour unless she gave credible word that she was safe. 

She knew why he didn’t outright tell her that verbally or go with her. By doing this, in case all of her instincts had failed her and this turned out to be a trap, the people potentially kidnapping her would know that she was not alone and backup was coming in the form of a very angry Krogan and possibly every single trigger-happy member of her crew. 

Drack off course had seen the effect the Charlatan had had on her, perhaps more so than the others on her crew. After they had trashed Umi’s joint and promptly paid for the damages, she had told him how she had been wanting to smash everything in her vicinity ever since she found out who and what Reyes really was. How tricked she had felt. The sheer feeling of hollowness and loneliness it had left her with. 

She had only brought Drack and Vetra planetside to settle the vaults and dealing with the locals, and they had mercifully kept their mouths shut about Reyes and her own flirting. Vetra hadn’t even acknowledged that she had seen or heard anything, and up until the cave incident, none of the other members of the crew had set foot on Kadara port, except Cora and her ridiculous guard duty. No one knew but Drack and Vetra, and they were not about to gossip about her, least of all once they saw how things went down between Reyes, Sloane and herself in the cave. 

_ The fucking cave. _ Her stomach turned at the thought of the cave. She took a deep breath to try and divert her thoughts over to something that didn’t involve that awful thing.

Her crying usually stopped the same minute it started, every night for a week, usually after too much to drink and being alone in her room, except for in the shower where no one, not even herself would hear it. Walking, consumed in all of her thoughts, she let out a deep breath before realising she had arrived outside his door. Collecting herself, she opened it to see him sitting in his usual chair.

“So, Charlatan. You wanted to speak in private. I’m here. Talk. Try not to lie if you can.” She knew it irked him. She wanted him to know how low she thought of him, and detested being in his presence.

His eyes grew dark the second she called him Charlatan.  _ Good. Get to business and let me get out of here as fast as I can _ .

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want you to stop talking to me like that.”

“What, for real? What is this, some mean-girl intervention?” 

“I want you to stop.”

“Oh boo-hoo, the pathfinder is picking on me.” Sara mocked, before sighing: “Grow a pair, will you? This is pathetic.”

“Sara!” Reyes said in a sharp voice. Fuck no. Not this. Anger she had barely kept at bay since he approached her made itself to her surface faster than she could suppress it.

“Pathfinder Ryder!” Sara snarled at him, poking a finger into his chest. “It is Pathfinder, Ryder, or a combination of the two to you. Not Sara.  _ Never _ Sara. You lost that privilege a while back, I’m sure I don’t need to remind you exactly how that came to be.”

“Well, aren’t you just the epitome of the moral high ground today? Didn’t you recently take an angaran artificial intelligence for the Nexus instead of giving it back to them?”

“Do not give me that. She was too dangerous, and do not change the subject. I stand by my decision. You guys torture innocents, and you lie about it.”

“ _ Innocents _ ? When did you become this naive, Pathfinder? Some were Roekaar. Some were outcasts. Some worked for Sloane, and they tried to kill us, both before, during and after the takeover!” He gesticulated, his arms lifted as if having gone through this speech many times, before looking at her and speaking through gritted teeth: “They were many things, Pathfinder; Roekaar, Angara, Human, Outcasts, nurses, soldiers even, but  _ innocents _ was probably the last thing they were.”

“You didn’t know that when you ordered your people to capture, torture and kill them. And you know as well as I do that if you torture someone long enough, the tortur-ee will admit to anything the tortur-er says, Reyes.” She spat his name as if it was venom, making sure to pronounce her words so he would feel every single one of them.

“I already knew what they were. I needed their intel to avoid more damage.”

“But at what cost? Innocents being taken amongst the guilty? Losing your humanity? Because that is the path you have been on ever since you started your organisation. You’re forgetting that I have been to your base. I’ve seen what you do.”

“Have you any idea how many lives we have saved from the intel gathered?”

“Lives you profit from, no doubt.” 

Reyes sighed, a drained look came upon him as he crossed his arms defensively.

“Do you really think I am that evil, Ryder?”

“Yes.” Her answer came fast, surprising even herself. “Your actions make me sick.” 

“Then why back me? Why not intervene back in the cave?”

“I wasn’t exactly given a choice in the matter. You never told me who you really were, Charlatan.” 

“That is uncalled for.”

“At least I never fucking lied to you, Reyes.” 

“You just did. I could tell your AI talked to you privately, your eyes always involuntary search for the source of the voice. You knew what was about to happen.” 

“Better have the evil monster who owes you a thousand favours, than the hot head who thinks heads on spikes is a solution. Which of those two options were the worse one is still a narrow competition it seems. You disgust me.” Her chest heaved and she collected herself before continuing: 

“Anything else you want cleared up, now that we’ve had this lovely heart to heart?” Reyes stood silently for a second, apparently mulling her words over. She wasn’t going to give him the time to answer back, she had said what she needed to say, and was ready to go home. The pain in her chest that had been a constant companion for weeks flared up again.

“Thought not.” Sara spat towards him before turning towards the door, finding the silence unbearable, yearning for a good long drunken stupor and sleep. She didn’t have time for this, she had Roekaar to kill and a mission to get away from this fucking place as soon as she could.

“Ryder!” He called after her as she walked away.

“Vidal!” Sara mocked at him, waving a hand over her shoulder as if dismissing him without not even bothering to turn around.

“You are out of line.” Sara stopped as she neared the door, and waited as he took a few steps towards her, looking into her eyes with his. They were growing darker and his expression more unreadable by the minute. 

“Out of line, am I? That’s rich coming from someone whose profession routinely includes torture and murder. How does that rhyme go again?  _ Sticks and stones hurts everyone else’s bones, but words hurt Reyes deeply? _ Get over yourself. I’m fucking done with you. Get out of my way.”

“I am not running a charity. I am trying to keep mine and everyone else’s heads above water and keep us all from drowning, your precious outpost included,” he growled.

“No, you are running a crime syndicate. Least you could do is own up to it. At least your predecessor did.”

“And what are you then, for collaborating with said syndicate?” He said icily. “Sometimes Ryder, you can be such a hot head.” 

“Be glad this particular hot head doesn’t have the authority to unleash their rifle on you. Not that I haven’t tried getting permission.”

“That’s it!” Reyes slammed his fist into the door, “you come into my office and throw insults at me, fine. I invited you here, I knew that was going to happen, it’s what you have done every other single time I have tried talking to you since you settled the outpost. But I am warning you only once, you do not come into my office-- invited or not-- and threaten me, no matter the history between us.” He said, walking back towards the corner of where his couch stood, unbuckling his armor, starting with the arms.

Sara looked at him for a second, smirking. She had hit a nerve, and he was visibly agitated.  _ Good _ . He might as well have started to roll up his sleeves and suggesting they take this outside, like this was a common bar-fight. 

“What are you going to do, fight me until I comply?” Sara spat at him, wanting to further antagonize him. Hurt him, like he hurt her. 

Reyes looked up for a second, his hand still not off the buckle of his armor, a faint and crooked smile tugging at his lips.

“Yes.” 

Sara didn’t know what was worse-- the absurd nature of what he was proposing, or the matter-of-factly tone he was proposing it in. She raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, looking at him. On the other hand, a chance to let all of her repressed anger out, a chance to really hurt him back the only way you could hurt a man apparently incapable of morale-- good old physical pain.

“I never took you for a comedian, Reyes. A betting man, a conniving man, a scheming man, but never one to do the dirty work himself.” 

“I am not being funny. Take off your armor.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I don’t want either of us to get seriously hurt. I want us to settle this the only way I haven’t tried yet and move on, no matter what happens. I have tried apologising, you didn’t respond to those messages. I have tried explaining myself, only to be met with insults or indifference. You are angry, fine. I have tried contacting you to talk, I have tried just letting you be mad and insult me every chance you get with no consequence. But I am done. I have had enough of your bile. We are settling this, right here, right now. I am done!” 

“Fine,” Sara shrugged. She’d been wanting to punch him for weeks anyway, “it’s your funeral,” she added whilst tugging off her chestplate and supplied initiative bracers, thinking about which parts of Reyes she would go for first. This was not based on logic. It was anger-driven, fuelled by her need to inflict as much damage as possible without stepping over the line. If she could control herself.  _ And hey, accidents do happen, and SAM recorded the entire conversation, how it was his idea, his suggestion _ .

When she was down to her undersuit, she turned around to see Reyes Vidal, also stripped down to his undersuit, taking off his omni tool. She got the hint and placed hers on the table as well. She stared at it for a long time, not feeling safe taking it off. What if he had another one hidden somewhere, just waiting to strike? He had never been one to play by the rules of any games, his own included. Sloane’s death proved as much. Seemingly reading her thoughts, he held out his arms to show he had none connected at the moment. She scowled at him for even daring to read his thoughts, which prompted him to chuckle.

“Are you ready, Pathfinder?” 

Sara braced herself internally.  _ You’re alliance trained. You are a soldier. You are quick on your feet, and you finally have a chance to give Reyes Vidal the beating someone should have given him a long time ago. You are the fucking pathfinder. You can do this. _ She nodded. Reyes responded with getting into position, raising his fists as if he was part of a boxing match or something. Sara couldn’t help but laugh at this incredibly incompetent show of how little he knew of a sparring session. Fists, she could dodge easily. It was almost as if he was asking her to beat him up. 

She stood up straight, counting where to begin.  _ Nose, Jaw, Groin, Stomach, Nose, Jaw, Groin, Stomach. _ It was almost like playing some sick twisted version of eeny meeny miny moe.  _ Face. Go for the face, then the groin. He won’t expect that, I always start out with the stomach and groin before moving on to the face. If he did his research, he won’t see it coming. _

But her anger got the best of her. She advanced slowly towards him, aiming at the centre of his face when he dodged and landed a solid hit right on her nose. He was too slow in the retreat, and she managed to take his arm and throw him over her shoulder, hearing a loud thump as he hit the floor behind her. She spinned around whilst feeling her mouth fill up with blood. She spat it out and looked at him. 

He got to his feet quickly, his grin devilish, his eyes narrowed. “Ready to give up, Pathfinder?”

“Oh, fuck no!” She charged him so hard he hit the back wall with a loud thump and the noise the scream he left behind. She kneed him in the stomach and hit him with her elbow in the back so he fell to the ground. She took a step back as he got up on all fours, panting, and took the opportunity to land a solid kick in his stomach, sending him sideways into the other wall. She let him collect himself for a second. She was going to savor this.

“You’ll pay for that,” he said, his mouth smiling but his eyes dark.

“Don’t mess with me, Vidal, I don’t play nice with criminals. Rifle or not I can still put an end to you. And this time you don’t have a rifle on standby waiting to take out your enemies for you.” He got up and stalked closer to her.

“Are you sure about that?” he said before he lunged forward and hit her in the stomach. Before going for her shin which he narrowly missed. Sara managed to jump out of reach for the shin-kick she assumed was coming, but the pain made it impossible for her to mask her scream. The metal taste in her mouth told her that her nose was still bleeding. She spat it out on the ground and looked up at him, before lunging back at him, her leg aiming for his groin. She missed, but hit him in the stomach instead, effectively bending him over and putting a stop to his obvious plans to charge her back. 

Using her advantage, she got him in a solid headlock, ignoring the pain she was feeling in both her nose and her stomach. She solidified her hold, making sure not to choke him outright. Pain or not, this was going to be enjoyed. He was going to feel all the hurt she had felt for weeks. But before she could decide exactly how to deal with Reyes in this state, she heard the lock click in between Reyes’ struggles for air.

The door flung open, with both Drack and Kian standing in the doorway, guns blazing, taking in everything that was going on. They must have made some sight in their fight, for both Kian and Drack stood completely still, their mouths ajar just looking at Reyes being headlocked by Sara, whose face was full of blood.

“Drack, go outside, lock the door and do not come in until one of us comes out! If it isn’t me coming out first, you  _ do not _ have permission to kill him.” Sara barked, still holding Reyes in a headlock. Drack holstered his gun, tilted his head and backed out of the room.

“Do as she says! I am fine.” Reyes said to Kian, who shrugged before closing the door. 

***

The minute the door closed, Reyes threw her over so she fell to the floor for once, freeing him from her headlock. Massaging his neck, he looked her straight in the eyes, a deadly gaze upon her eyes still as she looked up at him before getting to her feet again, wiping her bloody nose with her sleeve as if it was nothing. It irked him how she still managed to look at him with complete and utter distaste whilst doing so. He heard the music from outside getting turned even higher up in volume. Kian had an establishment to run after all, and he made a mental note not to arrange any more fights in his makeshift office if he wanted to remain on Kians good side.

“Want more? Or are you going to scream again like a whiny little girl-bitch?” she taunted, still looking him straight in the eyes. 

“Fuck. You. Ryder. I can take the fighting, but I have told you several times that I have had enough of this behavior from you!” 

“Hey, don’t mess with the bull if you can’t take the horns.” She said before she once again wiped her bloody nose and spat on the ground, blood mixed with slime. 

“Well then, by all means, come at me,  _ bull _ ,” he taunted, his only response being her narrowed eyes searching his room. Her eyes settled on one of his bottles, which she grabbed and smashed towards the wall, making all its contents follow the bottle’s bottom to the ground. She wore a look of utter insanity, a look that screamed she was going to maim, or possibly kill him. Reyes felt an involuntary shiver. This wasn’t what he wanted. 

“Put that down.” Reyes said, knowing he had taken his taunting a step too far. Perhaps he should have waited another week before igniting this. Perhaps a month. 

“No. You wanted this done, right? I’m getting it done. You wanted a fight. You are getting one.” 

“Not to the death! I don’t want to have to defend myself and cause yours. Ryder, PUT THAT DOWN!” 

“What does it matter to you?” Sara approached slowly. “Why do I matter, you didn’t hesitate executing anyone who might have been a threat. How do I know I am not next on that list?” 

“Ryder. Sara. Please. I know you’re angry. I know you feel like I’ve tricked you, but let me explain!” 

“I don’t think there is anything left to explain. You lied. Your behavior has been appalling, and I do not trust you. Might as well remove you from the equation all together.” She swung against him and he dodged. She had gone insane. He wondered when it would happen, but fuck if he didn’t think it would happen. “Leadership won’t be happy of course, but we’ll make do, like we always have. They’re rarely happy about anything I do anyway.” 

“Sara. Listen to me. Listen carefully. I didn’t know if I could trust you.” Reyes put his hands up, partially to indicate a surrender, and partially to at least be able to defend his face from getting broken. Dr. Nakamoto could heal many things, stabs, gunshot wounds, nasty infections, but plastic surgery was not amongst his otherwise varied and valued skill set. Internally he was praying and pleading with the forces of the universe that Ryder would leave his face uncut and his nose unbroken. 

“Trust me? Don’t make me laugh! I proved time and again that I was trustworthy and you, _you_ _preyed_ upon that trustworthiness to gain control of Kadara. You used me, Reyes.” 

“True, I did use you, but it was not with malicious intent.” Reyes heard her dropping what remained of the bottle to the floor. He barely had time to look up from his hands raised in front of him to register her hand coming towards him at such a speed. It made a loud thump as he felt at least one tooth loosen in his jaw, and his mouth filling with blood. He saw stars as he fell down towards the floor, and felt a weight upon his chest, covering his arms and keeping him from moving. She had sat on him, and was looking into his eyes, her own filled with water. 

“Do! Not! Lie! To! Me! Again!” Every word with a smack towards Reyes cheeks, thankfully with a flat hand this time.

Reyes didn’t defend himself. He didn’t retaliate. He knew she was right, and to be fair, she wasn’t really hitting him that hard anymore. At least she didn’t seem to want to rid him of any more of his teeth. He just laid there, for a second, appreciating the break from fists and the fact that glass shards in his face was completely off the table for a second, before finally catching his breath and he managed to throw her off of himself.

She was back on her feet in an instance, standing in the corner, breathing heavily, her eyes still red and watery.

“Doesn’t that feel better?” He said calmly, spitting out some blood of his mouth, making a mental note to have Dr. Nakamoto check out his loose tooth when he was finished with this. She was pinching the bridge of her nose as if she was examining it for fractures, remaining mercifully silent. Finally. 

He approached her slowly, limping slightly from the pain her kick in the shin had caused him. Now that the worst was over, he could feel it swelling.

“What are you doing?” Sara asked, sounding less angry but more defeated.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he was getting closer to her. This was as close to her as he had gotten since before the cave. He invaded her personal space further. 

“I’m sorry.” He repeated. Sara took a step back, he followed. 

Looking into her eyes, she didn’t see the hatred he expected to see. He didn’t see the anger that had dominated her face for weeks. He saw sadness, confusion and tiredness. When he stepped up in front of her, looking straight into her eyes, he again whispered his sorrow. She didn’t look away. He let his bruised knuckle gently up towards the side of her head, feeling her hair. He looked at her as best he could before his hand went to the back of her neck, slowly guiding her mouth towards his. She moaned and deepened the kiss for a second, before seemingly remembering where she was and who she was kissing. She broke it off, a tear escaping her eye.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, a rawness in his eyes she had only seen once. “I never meant to hurt you, and I hated not telling you.” 

She slapped him again.

“You’re not sorry for what you did,  _ Reyes _ , you’re sorry you got caught doing it.” She punched him in the chest and left it there, he realised she was shaking.

“You’re sorry that I went with Sloane that day and saw what you did for myself! You’re sorry I saw your true colours before you could have a chance to manipulate me. At least Sloane didn’t hide her monsterous tendencies, nor did she prey on my feelings.”

He recoiled, involuntarily showing her the look of shock on his face.

“Do you really think this low of me?” he asked, hearing his own voice going hoarse.

“You are sorry that I didn’t just blindly accept what you did when I found out!” her every word accompanied by her fist feebly hitting his chest.

“Ryder- Sara- Listen to me...” He said, so close to her face that he needn’t yell or shout, searching her eyes to see if this was how she felt. He couldn’t help himself, his thumb coming up to her cheek, wiping away an angry tear that had escaped the pool that was in her eyes.

Sara didn’t want to hear whatever it was he had to say, apparently, and kissed him again before he was the one who pushed her off.

“What are we doing?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” She shrugged. “Just go with it. I've had enough of this shit.”

He kissed her again. She slapped him before kissing him back. Her nails raking painfully on the back of his undersuit. Was this some kind of weird foreplay for her? 

His question was answered as her hands wandered towards the fastenings of his top. He countered by starting to work on hers. He tried looking into her eyes, but she wasn’t receptive to that. She was looking at her own hands, working on his undersuit, firmly not looking into his eyes. As they kept undressing each other, he tried again, as he pulled down her trousers. When they were down to just underwear, he stopped before getting near her bra, daring to place a hand on her cheek, letting his thumb trace her jaw for a second. Her eyes were still focused heavily on his chest. The minute he tried to steer her jaw up to look at him, she kissed him. Anything but look him in the eyes with hers, hers so red they could be filled with blood rather than tears. He felt her tongue enter his mouth as her hands went for his stiff member. 

He lifted her off the ground, feeling her legs locking around his back the second he did. Backing her briefly against the wall for support, he felt her hands almost painfully create long lines along his back-- marks he most definitely would carry for days after this-- as he carried her across the room and to his sofa. It would have to do. The second he managed to free her of her underwear and entered her, she gasped and kissed him harder, clutching his back like a lifeline. As if nothing mattered, as if it was just the two of them in the entire universe. 

***

Minutes later, or perhaps days, they lay panting on the couch, her cheeks still red from their coupling. Not choosing to delude himself to think that this would be the thing that fixed it all, he finally dared taking a breath, not daring to look at her just yet:

“So, Ryder,” Reyes started, taking care to try and pronounce her name less like he did when they first met, not really knowing why. 

“What happens now?” His matter-of-factly tone disgusted even himself. He didn’t even know how this was going to help. His intention had been to let her kick his ass, but when that hadn’t worked-- he suspected she hadn’t eaten much and not devoted herself much to physical exercise if she had let herself be  _ this _ off her game, he had meant to give her a hug. 

He had let himself get caught up in the moment and now here they were, unresolved. Broken. Waiting to be put back together. He had been miserable. He knew she had been miserable. All he was met with was silence, and a shift in the fabric of the blanket that covered them both on his floor . When he finally dared look at her, she was already on her feet, getting dressed.

“I don’t know what that even was, Reyes.” Sara said, gliding her trousers back on and pulling her undersuit jacket up, followed quickly by her chestpiece. He saw her flinch as she put it back on what he knew was a bruised shoulder. His muscles started to ache as the adrenaline was leaving his system. His feelings returning him to the solemn and lonely place it had been at for the past few weeks. 

“Do you think you can even begin to love me again? To let me try to gain back the trust you once had in me. To--” His words went unsaid but the implication was clear. Sara was busy getting her arm-bracers back on to look at him. Or perhaps it was deliberate, so she didn’t have to. He hoped the prior, but suspected the latter. He hated how much she hated him. 

“I don’t know, Reyes. I really don’t know.”

“Will you let me try?”

Sara stiffened, her breath hitched as she was putting her armored legs back on.

“I… I need to go.” She said, not even sending him a glance. It stung as she left through the doors. He suspected for all the injuries he’d have to bring Dr. Nakamoto’s way, this was the one he would not be able to heal instantly. But maybe Kian would bring him an icepack if he asked nicely.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [All We Said and Left Unsaid](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22454077) by [letsbreereal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsbreereal/pseuds/letsbreereal)


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